This Kiss
by hesterxprying
Summary: Emma and Jt have always been just friends. But with a little coaxing, friends, and alcohol, it could be more.
1. The Denial

This Kiss

_Prologue_

They had met each other in first grade. Emma and JT had always been friends but nothing else. just toddlers who managed to grow uptogether overall these years. She was a freaky environmentalist, and he was a gamer who ate too many cheesy snacks. Middle School came, and they started to grow apart. They didn't dislike each other or anything, and they never fought. Their friendshipjust, kind of, stopped. They both knew they had grown apart, but neither of them knew what had begun.

Chapter One

Manny, JT, Toby, and Emma were all sitting at the lunch table together. It was he last day of school, and they were all suffering from the summer heat. The bell rang, and the school was filled with cheers and running footsteps as students rushed out of the classrooms. Toby and JT, said goodbye and began to walk in the other direction. Soon, Manny and Emma were left alone to talk amongst themselves. Their conversation strayed from one topic to another, and eventually to Toby and JT.

"What do you think of JT?" said Manny

This question came so suddenly that Emma's breath caught in her throat. "What do you mean?" she responded, tentatively. Emma had known Manny since diapers, and she knew perfectly well what she meant. She just didn't want it to be true.

"I mean, like, as a guy." Said Manny, snapping her gum.

"Romantically?" Emma said, avoiding her best friends eyes.

"Yes, romantically" Manny pressed. "you've been sighing all day. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Manny, it's a magical thing called being tired. I'm just glad the school year is over, mmkay?" she replied, lying blatantly.

"Whatever. Is snake making that veggie lasagna stuff? You KNOW how much I love it."

Relief swept through Emma's body. All she wanted was a change of subjects.


	2. The Dream

This Kiss

Chapter two

That night, Emma fell into a deep sleep.

Warm sand and water rushed between her toes. She clutched a hand in hers, and it belonged to the one she loved. She leaned her head on his shoulders. His shirt was soft against her cheeks, and their laced fingers kept her warm from the harsh winds of the ocean. "I love you." The three words escaped her lips without a care. She was much more confident in her dreams than in real life.

He, however, did not respond.

"I love you so much" she squeezed his hand harder.

No response.

"Do you love me?" she said, starting to get concerned.

"Of course I do." He said, nonchalantly.

"Then why don't you say it?" she said, kissing him softly on his shoulder.

"I love you." He said, smiling.

She kissed him again, this time softly on the lips. "I love you too, JT."

Emma sat straight up in bed. She was breathing so fast she felt like she was going to burst. Manny rolled over to face her. "You okay Em?" she asked, her voice still groggy from sleep.

"Y-yea-yes. Yes, I'm okay." She walked slowly into the bathroom and splashed water onto her sweaty face. She returned to their bedroom, and pulled the covers up to her chin.

"Just a dream."


	3. the confession

This Kiss

Chapter Two

Emma woke up again and squinted against the blinding sunlight coming through her window. She jumped in shock when she noticed Manny sitting right next to her bed.

"how did you sleep?" she said with a smirk.

"fine, I guess…" Emma didn't know why her friend was acting like this. "Is something wrong?"

"Nope. Nothings wrong." Manny responded, the smirk still on her face, and with a new look that screamed 'you don't know that I know, but boy do I know.'

"okay, Manny, if you say so…" Emma was beginning to get worried.

Manny stayed this way for the rest of the day. Then, at around one or so, they decided to go for a walk. They strolled around the neighborhood, then walked up to the dot for lunch.

Emma stopped breathing.

Toby and JT were sitting at a table. Right there. Right in front of her. Manny noticed the sudden pause in her friends lungs.

"Hey Em, can I talk to you for a minute?" Manny asked, the smirk still painted on her face. Without waiting for a response, she grabbed Emma's hand and pulled her into the girls restroom. "look," she said firmly, "I heard you talking in your sleep last night, I know what's going on, and there's no use denying it now, so you might as well admit it now: you like him."

Emma's brain crumpled into a pile of mush. She knew that what Manny said was true: there was no going back now. She had to confess.

"But," Manny said, her smirk now a huge grin, "according to Toby, you aren't the only one who's been denying feelings!"


	4. the moment

This Kiss

Chapter 4

you aren't the only one who's been denying feelings…

The words echoed in Emma's Head for the rest of the day, and they seemed to pound into her mind as she tried to sleep. The events of the day had been replaying over and over in her mind. She looked at the clock next to her bed. The illuminated red letters read 3:00 AM. She saw her reflection in the clock. Her hair was frizzy and tangled from tossing and turning, and her eyes were red and puffy from the lack of sleep. She rolled over and faced the opposite wall.

_Flashback_

Manny gave Emma about half a second to gather air, then she yanked her back out into the restaurant. Of course, Manny plopped herself down right next to Toby, so Emma had no other choice but to sit next to JT.

It was strange, Emma had never seen JT like this. His leg was shaking, he was squeezing his fingers, and his eyes were a bit shifty. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. Manny finally spoke up. "JT, are you alright?" He glanced at Emma.

"Yea, yea, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be fine?" his voice was shaky.

This response received small sniggers from Manny and Toby. "We're going to get the food." said Toby. why don't you guys, uh, chat for a while." And with that, they got up, leaving Emma and JT alone.

There was an awkward silence at first, then Emma cleared her throat. "so, um…" this sounded stupid, she knew it, but it broke the ice, and the two began to talk more openly. They chatted about school in the fall, summer plans, you know, the things you usually talk about when your skirting around the one thing that's on your mind.

And then it happened.

Emma's knee brushed up against JT's.

This small little touch generated this silence. There was no one around. It was just them, in this big, silent universe. They stared deep into each others eyes. This moment seemed to last an eternity.

The silence was broken, however, when Toby and Manny returned with a giant plate of french-fries. The broken eye contact seemed so hard at first, but it happened, and when it did, the rush of happiness and warmth left their bodies.

_End flashback_

This moment, however short, lingered in Emma's mind as she pressed her face into her pillow.

_This isn't happening _

_This can't happen. _

_No, no, no!_

Emma knew it was true, though. She couldn't deny it from herself or anyone else.

_I love him._

Little did she know that four blocks away, on top of his metal bunk bed, JT was thinking about the same thing.


	5. the confrontation

This Kiss

Chapter 5

Emma and Manny woke up and decided to Meet JT and Toby and go for a walk. Emma was nervous about this at first, but she realized there was no point trying to hide. The four teens met up at a street corner and started walking. They chatted and laughed, but Emma and JT mentioned nothing of their feelings. Toby stopped to tie his shoe, and Manny took this time to intervene. "so," she said, like nothing was embarrassing about what she was going to say, "Are you guys going out yet?"

The awkward silence that followed was broken by Manny and Toby's giggles.

"Come on you guys, this denial thing is getting really old. Just admit it!" Toby said

"You're in looooove" Manny chimed in in a mock child's voice.

JT and Emma blushed furiously and brushed it off. These little teases continued for weeks. One day in mid July, Manny came up behind the two and said "You know what?" Emma rolled her eyes "you guys are sooooo perfect for each other."

That comment had snipped Emma's last nerve.

"Enough!" she shrieked. Toby, Manny, and JT stood completely still. Their smiles vanished, and they stopped dead in their tracks.

"JT…" she breathed, now realizing how dumb she must look. "would you go out with me?"

Manny and Toby looked so taken aback by this sudden change of feelings that Emma let out a small laugh. Even JT was a little surprised, but his shocked face turned into a shy smile. "Let's talk" JT said tentatively.

"good plan" Emma replied softly.

He took her hand and led her around the corner of the next building so that they could be alone. Emma started first. "Look," she said "you don't have to go out with me, I was just stressed out about Manny and Toby and I just feel really stupid an-" She stopped, however, when he kissed her gently on the forehead.

"It's okay." He told her, smiling.

They both turned around just in time to see to heads pop back around the corner. They weren't surprised that their best friends were spying. They didn't care much, either. They were finally together, and nothing else seemed to matter.


	6. The Party

_Authors note: is this M rated? Nothing explicit, just a lot of drinking and making out. Let me know if the rating should get cranked up._

This Kiss

Chapter 6

On Wednesday afternoon, Toby announced that his parents were leaving town and that he was throwing a party. People were a little surprised at first, but the party had a good turnout, even if it was hosted by a nerd. Everything was going great until someone thought it would be funny to spike the punch. Of course, in a matter of minutes, people were drunk. Emma thought she was being smart by only drinking punch instead of the vodka that was set out in bottles. Unfortunately, she was wrong, and soon she was plastered. She was so drunk that JT had to catch her several times so that she didn't fall on the ground. "It's so louuuuud!" She said, with a drunken slur.

"Let's go somewhere quiet" JT whispered in her ear. She giggled and hiccupped several times, until they made it to the stairs. They found a room that sounded empty, but then slammed the door when they realized it was already, um, occupied, by Craig and Ellie. Finally, they found an vacant room and went inside. It was much quieter inside, but they could still hear some noise from downstairs. A crash and a loud swearword told them someone had broken a lamp.

The kissing began, and soon she had no control over anything. She could feel the alcohol swimming around in her mind, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't focus on anything. She was suddenly cold, and realized that the first two buttons on her shirt were missing. She put her hand on his hip, and felt the small, square package crinkle.

This tiny noise seemed to break through everything. They separated and sat up, and everything got quiet. The door slammed open, and Spinner and Manny's flushed faces popped in.

"Whoopsies!" Manny giggled. She too, was very drunk. She grabbed spinner and pulled him back out into the hallway, probably to find another bedroom to use.

The small package had fallen out of JT's pocket. The condom sat on the bed and was like a dead weight in the room. Emma knew what would have happened. Neither of them said a word. Soon, Emma's eyes got hot, and no matter how hard she tried to hide them, the silent tears began to fall. She felt JT's arms around her, and now she was even more embarrassed. She apologized over and over again, but he said that she shouldn't. he stroked her hair, kissed her on the forehead. Anything to make her stop crying. Soon, they lay down on the bed and fell asleep in each others arms.


	7. The Morning

This Kiss

Chapter 7

"Shit, Emma!" shit, shit, shit…"

Emma could here Manny cursing, but her voice seemed distant. She ignored it and snuggled against her pillow. The swearing got louder. She opened her eyes a crack, and the pounding in her head intensified.

_Too much vodka, too much vodka._

She felt a hand grab her shoulder and tug her out of bed. She opened her eyes a little wider, and realized that it wasn't her pillow she was lying on at all. The last thing she saw before she was yanked out of the room was JT opening his eyes and looking confused.

Manny brought her downstairs and handed her a huge mug of coffee. She sipped it, but spit it back out. It was black. Her friend sat down at the table with an equally large cup of coffee. She said nothing for several minutes, in fact, she didn't even look at Emma.

Emma was confused. She didn't remember last night. Why was her friend so angry?

"How could you do that Emma?" her friend asked, with a hint of worry in her voice

"do what?" now Emma was getting really worried. What had happened.

"look at your shirt, it should give you a clue." Emma looked down.

_The two buttons were gone. Like someone had ripped open her shirt. _

All the memories came flooding back. "No, Manny, its not what you think!" she cried out.

This didn't seem to effect Manny "We've got to get home. Go get your stuff."

Emma walked around the destroyed house until she found her purse. She walked slowly upstairs until she found the right room.

JT was sitting on the bed looking sick. He was hung over as well. She stood in the doorway, not knowing what to say to him. He finally spoke up.

"Nothing happened last night, you know." He said.

"I know." She responded quietly. She walked over and sat next to him. "try telling that to Manny."

JT rolled his eyes. He put his fingers through his hair and sighed. Emma rested her head on his shoulders. It's going to be okay, isn't it?" she said. "Us, I mean."

"yeah." He said, smiling a bit.

They stayed there for a while, just being with each other. Loving every inch of each other.

Neither of them knew how long it would last, but neither cared. What they had was all they could ever want.


	8. Authors Note

Authors note

Blah

That is how I feel right now. Nothing. I guess I wrote so much in two days (yes I wrote this whole story in two days) that my mind has turned to mush. If you have any suggestions on how the story could go, please E-mail me at I'll try to update as soon as possible, but for now, I thought I let you know what was going on. Bye! And thanks for all the wonderful reviews!

-Sam


End file.
